Marketing, advertising & media intelligence

While the major topic of conversation in agency land today will presumably be last night's Effie results, the Cannes Lions have released their report on the 2013 festival. And it makes for pretty good reading from a New Zealand perspective.

Individually, DraftFCB's numerous Lions for Driving Dogs and Prime TV's Call Girl meant it was the only Kiwi agency to make the world's top 20 agencies, coming in at no. 17. It's the first time a Kiwi agency has cracked the top 20 in the past few years. DraftFCB was also ranked fourth in Asia Pacific.

DDB NZ was the only Kiwi winner in the Creative Effectiveness category for Steinlager's 'We Believe', and while it didn't make the overall top 20, it was ranked sixth in Asia Pacific.

Colenso BBDO was 18th in the Asia Pacific rankings, down from third the year before.

Overall, New Zealand's 32 Lions meant it was 11th in terms of most Lions won per country, up one spot from 12th in 2012 and equal 27th in 2011. New Zealand has been remarkably consistent over the years in terms of country rankings and tends to hover around the top ten. And that's without manning the per capita torpedoes to make us feel better about ourselves, which, as everyone knows, New Zealanders are genetically programmed to do.

Auckland was the eighth most awarded city in 2013, up from 19th in 2012.

Here's what the chief executive officer Philip Thomas had to say in his intro letter:

The 2013 Festival — our 60th anniversary — was fascinating for many reasons. More than 35,000 pieces of work were entered , and just over 1,000 entries were deemed worthy of a Lion by our world-class juries — which included of course the ranks and analyses all these winners — based on rules we have honed for nearly 60 years — by agency, network, people and territory.

Cannes each year throws a spotlight on what is great, it points the way forward, and shows what is possible. It also hints at the future of our industry — and if the winners and speeches this year are an indication, three words dominate. The use of Data (and insight), the Purpose of a brand, and the place it has in the customers’ lives, and the quality of the Storytelling, which is becoming all the more important.

All the results published in the Cannes Report are solely based on performance at the Festival, which is entirely determined by our panels of juries. The Festival itself remains entirely neutral and never passes judgement on any work. We thank the judges for their dedication and tremendous sense of responsibility — judging Cannes is a huge commitment.

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On Monday, Whittaker’s launched its latest novelty chocolate-lolly mash up with a chocolatey answer to retro bakesale treat coconut ice. The Coconut Ice Surprise chocolate has a twist though, 20c from each block goes to Plunket – a charity which New Zealanders agree is a worthy cause. However, to relate the chocolate to the charity, Whittaker's has built the campaign around baby gender reveal parties, causing a backlash from the public who argue gender norms have expanded beyond blue for boys and pink for girls.

Genius From Elsewhere

1

With over 10,000 fires occuring in South Korea residential homes every year, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance has created a flower vase that doubles as a throwable fire extinguisher. The hope is it will raise awareness to the public safety issue of home fire safety.

2

Advertisers have stopped buying ads on YouTube after their ads appeared on children's videos where pedophiles had infiltrated the comment section.The New York Times investigates the comments.

3

The internet has been up in arms about a supposed 'Anti-LGBT' emoji, featuring a rainbow flag alongside the "no" symbol. However, according to Time, the emoji causing offence is actually "an unfortunate implementation of the standards that govern how text is displayed on our device".

4

This year, Super Bowl audiences were treated to a 45-second video of Andy Warhol eating a Burger King Whopper. It was certainly a campaign unlike any before, but did it work? Adweek takes a look.

5

As of 1 March, Queenslanders will be able to include one of five emojis alongside their licence places. The options—the laughing-crying face, the winking face, the sunglasses face, the heart-eyed face, or the classic smiley face—are courtesy of Personalised Plates Queensland.

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Why we like it: Infomercial-style ads take us right back to the glorious days of old when we were sick – but not too sick – home from school and got the sought-after opportunity to watch daytime TV. There was literally nothing greater in an eight-year-old's life. So for that reason, these ads get a big tick from us. There's humour, and, despite what often happens when radio hosts venture into a visual format, it doesn't miss the mark.

Who's it for: House of Travel by the in-house team

Why we like it: Who doesn't love when brands bring back a break-out star from one of their earlier campaigns? To be completely honest, we didn't recognise Lucy on first glance, but after a quick trip down memory lane, we placed her as Miss Lucy from that singing and dancing retro campaign House of Travel launched more than a decade ago. We like the continuity of this ad and watching a man choke on his drink after a snapback from a woman doesn't hurt either.

Who's it for: Joblist by Badger Communications

Why we like it: Sonia is a dead-set hero. We are introduced to her glamorous, visor-wearing face peering out from behind a freshly-levelled hedge and the next thing we know she's no ordinary arborist. We watch Sonia as she looks into that shrub's soul and reveals the schnauzer-shaped masterpiece of her own creation. We never knew we needed someone with Sonia's skill set in our lives, but now we know we do. Thank you Sonia for showing us the light.